Breaking news: Couple cleared of traffic stop charges

[47of74]

Source: The Des Moines Register

A couple who says they were brutalized by two Des Moines police officers last fall was cleared of charges this morning that they interfered with police during a traffic stop.

A Polk County jury also declared Octavius Bonds not guilty of assault on a peace officer, after nearly three hours of deliberation.

Bonds, 25, nodded as the verdict was read. His 21-year-old girlfriend, Erin Evans, threw up her hands and then covered her face.

Police had alleged that the couple was slow to respond to them as they raced to an emergency call on Sept. 13. Evans, who was driving, did not immediately respond to their demands to produce her driver’s license and registration, according to the police account.

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090319/NEWS/90319013

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I'm glad to see this.

[Bozita]

1. I'm sure there's a for-profit prison in or near Iowa that could house a couple of ex-cops

[acmavm]

3. Support your local police department...

<snip>

Bonds testified that after his arrest, he overheard laughter from several officers. He recalled that one said: “We took down a big one tonight.”

Bonds is 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 260 pounds.

Evidence showed that he was struck at least 10 times with a baton, including two blows to his head. Bonds testified that the altercation left him with a permanent injuries to his arm and hand.

:sarcasm:

[bluestateguy]

2. Anytime cops lose in court, I view that as a good thing

nt

[T Wolf]

5. Anytime a cop loses on the street, I view that as a good thing. The vast majority of them

are thugs and assholes like these two.

Of course, nothing will happen to the pigs who beat and terrorized these two innocent people.

[pleah]

4. K&R

[midnight]

6. I suggest that a review of our constitution and it's amendments

become a priority. They are not some outdated ideas for people of an era gone by. They are purposefully written to prevent this type of harassment from being taken to this level of abuse.

[christx30]

9. people keep

asking for the government to do more and more things that the constitution doesn't authorize. Why should anyone's rights matter any more? If the constitional limits on government no longer matter, why should anyone's rights matter any more?

[tomm2thumbs]

7. some interesting notes from the attack itself

Police had alleged that the couple was slow to respond to them

Evidence showed that he was struck at least 10 times with a baton, including two blows to his head. Bonds testified that the altercation left him with a permanent injuries to his arm and hand.

...the incident... left him with bruises, a broken left hand, a fractured right arm and a head gash that required eight staples.

...two officers, both of whom had been on the job less than a year

[classysassy]

8. The stop

by the police had nothing to do about race,the odds are 1,000,000 to 1 it did have something to do abiut race.